Welcome to... "Micro-Lesson 201" This Micro Lesson runs through a 1950's style "I-IV-V" Blues-Rock Riff in the Key of "E."

The overall feel is a very Blues-based groove with a slant toward the 1950's rock direction from the filler (piano-like) parts that surround the main riff.

In measure one, the groove begins with a low open "E" string played against the top-half of the "E Major" chord. This is counter-balanced with a nice filler-lick idea leading, "G# to D to the root of E."

This single-note effectively generates the sound of the "E7" chord. The IV-chord of "A" arrives in measure two but gets highlighted with another phrase after the down-beat which brings in the "b7" tone of the "A7" chord.

This is a repetitive style idea that loops our part back to the root chord of, "E." The final measure focuses on the V-chord of "B7." This measure opens by arpeggiating the "B7" chord in 1st position and adding a turnaround phrase.

The phrase effectively supports a return back to the top of the progression for a repeat of the entire 4-bar riff. As always, memorize the riff and work toward building speed with a metronome or drum machine. Enjoy!